Noah frowned as he gazed at the terrifying wave that threatened to crash against them. He glanced at the water before sighing. "We'll have to go underwater."
"What if there are beasts?" Leonel hesitated, not at all enjoying the idea.
"We don't really have much of a choice." Noah moved toward them and placed an arm on Argos' and Emery's shoulders. He then stared at Leonel. "Get on my back."
"Ah, fuck. We're really doing this." The teenager chose not to complain and simply held onto his friend's back.
Soon, the four began descending into the water, immediately hit by the intense pressure that acted on their bodies, pushing them backward.
Noah countered the force, executing his Dragon Guard and activating his second Soul skill, Gravity Force. Contrary to his expectations, the water seemed to increase the pressure on them, pushing against them with even more fervor. It quickly became clear that the natural disaster wasn't entirely natural.
He almost stopped struggling; the force didn't seem to harm them, and it took them farther away from the approaching tsunami, so he reckoned they would be okay. But Emery's call for his attention changed his mind. Following his teammate's finger, he noticed the grand and turbulent water a few hundred meters away, spinning in a circular fashion.
It was a whirlpool, though the four had never seen one as big as the one before them. Judging by the amount of blood that attempted to paint the sea red, they could guess that the whirlpool was as dangerously chaotic as the tornado they had just escaped.
"Fuck!" he cursed inwardly. They were really in trouble this time; he couldn't think of a way out of the challenge before them. Still, he lightened their weight and led the other three upwards to the surface of the sea, where they saw the tsunami just a few tens of meters away.
Suddenly, a group of four dashed through the air above him, the first one attacking the tsunami and freezing its surface. Next, they only had to smash into it and tear through the tsunami's ravenous waters.
Noah clicked his tongue at the sight. That was a Year Three team. Only they possessed the strength to so casually tear through the tsunami. From the first individual, he sensed the Path of Essence, which made sense because one would need a lot of Essence to freeze that thing. Worse, the ice had disappeared, allowing the hole in the water to repair itself.
"Fuck! We'll have to push through it!" Argos grunted while smashing his fists together. Before them, they noted that the tsunami was now only 60 meters away.
Sighing, they nodded and roused their Essence, preparing to charge forward. But suddenly, a powerful force smashed into the ocean surrounding them, sending the four into the air. Noah's eyes reddened with fury as he realized what had caused their situation.
The Nolan House genius had landed near them and immediately decided to show off his firepower, utilizing his Star Essence in a rather crude way and soaring into the sky, easily appearing before the bellowing tsunami. Bright golden light appeared behind him, blasting the air to propel him forward and allowing him to release a Star Essence-powered punch that blasted open a portion of the tsunami's waters.
Unfortunately for Noah and his team, their suspended figures happened to be in the vicinity of the genius's actions, which produced a powerful wind that pushed them toward the whirlpool. Noah gritted his teeth, cold anger flaring in his eyes as he watched the genius and his team cross the tsunami through the hole he had created. But he forced the anger away and circulated his Essence, activating Gravity Force to further decrease his weight while creating Spatial platforms to reduce their speed. "Leonel!"
The teenager nodded, utilizing the fire half of his Star affinity to produce golden flames in an attempt to slow the team's descent. But unfortunately, the four had originally been close to the whirlpool, so the force that the Nolan genius had knowingly unleashed was enough to send them dangerously close to it. "Damn! Arnold, that piece of shit!"
"Oh shit." Argos cursed as he looked down at the seemingly bottomless whirlpool. "We'll definitely die if we fall into that. Should we quit?"
Noah's brows furrowed before he relaxed his expression and sighed. "In the end, this is because we're still weak. We'll try again later."
Emery's brow rose. "Oh? You're gonna let this slide?"
"I never said anything about that. I'll personally tear that idiot apart once I'm strong enough." The transmigrator's voice was even, as though he wasn't talking about killing someone but rather cutting down an animal. But Leonel, who had gotten quite close to him, could sense the anger brewing inside him. "Peak of the Intermediate Stage. I believe I should be able to take him on by then." He then glanced down at the fast-approaching mouth of the whirlpool and sighed once more. "For now, we'll give up on this competition."
The four reached for the Star Records on their wrists and were about to extend their Essence into it when they were suddenly interrupted by a voice.
"Need a hand?"
Noah looked to his side, easily recognizing the familiar voice. In the air, floating beside them, was Alyssa with her dark feathered wings flapping behind her. She didn't wait for their reply before taking action. Her wings grew in size before converging to create a powerful gust of wind that pushed the four forward. "I can't help you with what's next, though."
The transmigrator looked back at her while being pushed toward the tsunami. "Thank you." She smiled, nodding her head before heading down to get her teammates.
He then looked toward the fast-approaching tsunami. "We managed to avoid elimination. Let's make it count." His muscles suddenly tensed before expanding as he used the Embodiment martial skill while his Essence and Blood Essence boiled within him.
"Let's do this!" Argos smirked while his Essence seeped deep into his body and his Battlesoul appeared behind him.
Leonel and Emery followed suit, golden light surrounding the former as his arm assumed the form of a lion's forelimb. The latter transformed, assuming his Half-blood Dark Harvester form.
Even at the Intermediate Stage, the four seemed to exude confidence against a force that would have overwhelmed most first years.